OCA CIRCULAR NO. 67-2016, March 09, 2016

 
For the information and guidance of all judges and personnel of the lower courts, quoted hereunder is the Resolution of the Court En Bancdated December 8, 2015 in A.M. No. 12-5-39-MTCC, to wit:  

“Upon the recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator, ihe Court Resolved to APPROVE the following Revised Guidelines in the Electronic Filing of Applications for Leave and Requests for Travel Authority and/or Extension of Travel Abroad:

I. Applications for Leave

1. Lower courts’ officials and personnel may submit, the scanned copy of their properly accomplished application for leave, duly stamped received in their respective station, together with complete supporting documents, if applicable, to the Employees’ Leave Division (ELD), Office of Administrative Services (OAS), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), to the electronic mail (e-mail) address of the processor-in-charge of the area.

The ELD, OAS, OCA receives an average of 100 leave applications each day; if all of these applications will be received by only one or two individuals, it would take some time before they could be distributed to the individual processor-in-charge. Thus, it will be more expeditious if the leave applications will be e-mailed directly to the individual processor-in-charge who would be accountable to them in case of delay in processing. In case of resignation, retirement, or transfer of the processor-in-charge, he/she shall inform, through e-mail, the concerned lower court officials and personnel of the e-mail address of the new processor-in-charge.

The following is the list of the e-mail addresses of the processors-in-charge together with their respective areas of assignment, to wit:

For National Capital Judicial Region (Section 1)

2. Properly accomplished application for leave (Civil Service Form No. 6 [Revised 1984]) shall include the complete details of the application, the date of filing in the lower court, signature of the applicant, and signature and recommendation, either for approval or disapproval, of the Executive Judge (for those in the Office of the Clerk of Court) or the Presiding Judge (for those in the court branches) or the Clerk of Court as delegated in writing by the Executive/Presiding Judge.

3. The Clerk of Court shall furnish the ELD, OAS, OCA, with a copy of the Executive/Presiding Judge’s written delegation of authority to him/her to sign and recommend the approval or disapproval of leave applications, otherwise, the Clerk of Court’s signature and recommendation shall not be honored and the leave application shall not be processed.

4. The documents in support of the application for leave, if any, shall be separately scanned, saved and individually attached to the e-mail. The file name of the soft copy of the documents should follow the specified format.i.e. (name), LEAVE APPLICATION, (court), [example: Dela Cruz, Juana A., LEAVE APPLICATION, Branch 1, RTC, Manila].

5. The scanned copy of the application for leave sent through e-mail shall reflect or show on its face that the application had been filed in the proper court station as shown by the stamp of receipt thereat and the actual date of receipt or filing.

6. The following time frame under Rub XVI of the Omnibus Rules on Leave in the filing of application for leave of absence in the lower courts shall still be observed:

a. All applications for vacation leave of absence for one (1) full day or more must be filed five (5) days in advance, whenever possible, of the effective date of such leave. {Section 51)

b. All applications for sick leave of absence for one (1) full day or more must be made [using] the prescribed form and shall be filed immediately upon the official or employee’s return from such leave. Notice of absence, however, should be sent to the immediate supervisor and/or the agency head. Application for sick leave in excess of five (5) successive days shall be accompanied by a proper medical certificate.

Sick leave may be applied for in advance in cases where the official or employee will undergo a medical examination or operation or advised to rest in view of ill health duly supported by a medical certificate. {Section 53)

7. Properly accomplished application for leave with its complete supporting documents, submitted to the ELD, OAS, OCA, through e-mail, shall be processed accordingly.

Within thirty (30) working days from receipt of the properly accomplished application for vacation leave, together with its complete supporting documents, if applicable, the applicant shall be notified through e-mail of the approval or disapproval thereof, otherwise the application shall be deemed approved or disapproved as recommended by the Executive Judge or the Presiding Judge or the Clerk of Court. In no case, however, shall the application be deemed approved for a period exceeding the maximum thirty (30) working days limit provided under A.M. No. 09-7-03-O (Setting the Maximum Period of Vacation Leave of Lower Court Officials and Personnel), Resolution dated February 1, 2011.

Within thirty (30) working days from receipt of the properly accomplished application for sick leave, which is recommended for approval by the Executive Judge or the Presiding Judge or the Clerk of Court, together with its complete supporting documents, if applicable, the applicant shall be notified through e-mail of the approval or disapproval of the application, otherwise the application shall be deemed automatically approved.

Within thirty (30) working days from receipt of the properly accomplished application for sick leave, which is recommended for disapproval by the Executive Judge or the Presiding Judge or the Clerk of Court, together with its complete supporting documents, the ELD, OAS, OCA, shall refer [the application] to the SC Clinic Services, for further evaluation and recommendation. Within seven (7) working days from receipt of the

Evaluation Report and Recommendation of the SC Clinic Services, the ELD, OAS, OCA, shall advise the applicant of the approval or disapproval of his/her application for sick leave.

For monitoring purposes, in case of sick leave of absence beyond one (I) month, the concerned employee shall file a sick leave application at the end of each month even before his/her return to work.

The concerned employee may also file the sick leave application in advance as in cases where he/she will undergo a medical examination or an operation or is advised to rest in view of ill health.

In all these instances, the sick leave application shall be accompanied by pertinent medical documents.

8. In all cases, the hard copy of the properly accomplished application for leave and its complete supporting documents shall be mailed to and received by the ELD, OAS, OCA, within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the e-mail for purposes of verification and authentication of the signature of the Executive/Presiding Judge or Clerk of Court and for record purposes, otherwise, the concerned official or employee’s corresponding absences shall be considered unauthorized.

II. Request for Travel Authority and Extension of Travel Abroad

1. The scanned copy of the letter-request for authority to travel abroad and properly accomplished application for leave, together with the complete documentary requirements, shall be sent to the ELD, OAS, OCA through the e-mail address of the processor-in-charge of the area as provided in paragraph no. 1 of item I hereof, not-earlier than two (2) months before the applicant’s intended departure date but not later than ten (10) working days, before said date, otherwise, the request shall not be entertained.

2. The scanned copy of the letter-request for extension of travel abroad and properly accomplished application for leave, together with the complete documentary requirements, if applicable, shall be sent to the ELD, OAS, OCA through the e-mail address of the processor-in-charge of the area as provided in paragraph no. 1 of item I hereof, not later than ten (10) working days before the expiration of the period covered by the original travel authority, otherwise, the request shall not be entertained.

3. Within three (3) working days from receipt of the applicant’s e-mail request for travel authority or extension of travel abroad, the ELD, OAS, OCA, shall send a reply e-mail to the applicant in case there is any lacking document. In return, the applicant shall send within the next three (3) working days through e-mail the scanned copy of the lacking document.

4. Upon receipt of the complete documentary requirements, the ELD, OAS, OCA, shall process the application for travel authority or extension of travel abroad within ten (10) working days, otherwise, the application shall be deemed approved or disapproved as recommended by the Executive Judge or the Presiding Judge. In no case, however, shall the original period of the travel authority together with the period of extension thereof exceed the maximum thirty (30) working days limit provided under A.M. No. 09-7-03-O in case of automatic approval.

5. A scanned copy of the travel authority or authority to extend travel abroad shall be sent by the ELD, OAS, OCA, through e-mail to the applicant within three (3) working days from its receipt of a copy thereof. The original copy of the travel authority or authority to extend travel abroad shall be sent by the OCA through regular mail unless it was arranged by the applicant that he/she or his/her authorized representative will personally pick-up the same.

6. In all cases, the hard copy of the properly accomplished application for leave and its complete supporting documents, shall be mailed to and received by the ELD, OAS, OCA, within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the e-mail for purposes of verification and authentication of the signature of the Executive/Presiding Judge and for record purposes, otherwise, the concerned official or employee’s corresponding absences shall be considered unauthorized despite the issuance of a travel authority or authority to extend travel abroad.

The applicant’s e-mail shall provide the following basic information and shall be in the following format:

To : e-mail address of processor-in-charge
From : Applicant’s e-mail address
Subject : name, LEAVE APPLICATION’/TRAVEL
AUTHORITY/AUTHORITY TO EXTEND
TRAVEL ABROAD,

court/station

(Required basic information in the body of the e-mail) 

Name :
Position :
Court Station :
Contact Numbers : (mobile and landline with area code)
Where leave will be spent :
Period of leave :
Other e-mail address/es, if any :_

  Titles of Attached Documents : (sample)

1. Application for Leave   
2. Letter-Request for Authority to Travel Abroad
3. Lower Court (LC) Clearance as to Money/ Property Accountability
4. LC Clearance as to Pending Criminal/Civil/Administrative Cases
5. Clearance as to Pending Stenographic Notes from the Applicant’s
   Court and the Court of Appeals (for Court Stenographers)
6. Affidavit of Undertaking (for Clerks of Court in the Office of the
   Clerk of Court)

Attachments : (sample)

Application for Leave)

Letter-Request for Authority to Travel Abroad

LC Clearance as to Money/ Property Accountability

LC Clearance as to Pending Criminal/Civil/Administrative Cases

Clearance as to Pending Stenographic Notes from the

Applicant’s Court and the Court of Appeals

Affidavit of Undertaking

These Guidelines shall ‘be suppletory to all issuances relating to the filing of applications for leave of absence and requests for travel authority and/or extension of travel abroad.”

Please be guided accordingly.

9 March, 2016.